Mending The Skies
by TaintedSalvation
Summary: A Trove Fanfic. The lands were free of strife, the seas were calm of storms, and the people of the world lived without fear or hatred. Under The Temple and The Elysium, The Empire of The Sun Goddess thrived. All was well with the world. But one day, the skies tore apart and an evil from legend broke free. Only a small band of warriors now stood between survival and absolute chaos.


Chapter 1 - The Drake And The Frost Ghost

The thoughts tore through his mind faster and more violently than he was storming through the abandoned, golden temple. Guilt and sorrow gnawed at him all the way through his ascent to the High Priestess's chambers. What he had done was unthinkable, allowing the power of the Moon Goddess through. Perhaps she had manipulated him, spurred her lunacy on him, he thought. Perhaps it was his last attempt to uphold the crumbling wards of Q'Bathulu. Either way, it was obviously a grave mistake. The Temple Of The Sun Goddess was now devoid of life, save for his own. Maybe this was a sick punishment: Allowing him to live with the guilt, further crushing what little sanity he had left.

Bursting through the gold-trimmed doors to the High Priestess's hall, Tenabrae called out in desperation.

"Mother Israella!" He begged, hoping for any sign of her to ease his conscience, if only a little. "Mother!" The priest called, in almost hysterical sobs. But the only reply to his broken pleas was a cold and foreboding silence. She was gone, and so were all her disciples. There was no one to keep Q'Bathulu from breaking into the realm. Not even his attempts at placating the Moon Goddess would prevent what was coming. She had manipulated him, she had gotten a hold in this world, and now the envious Moon would raze the realms of the Sun Goddess.

Tenabrae collapsed onto the cold marble floor weeping, awaiting the inevitable chaos that he helped ensure.

* * *

The comfortable darkness of his room was permeated by rays of morning light, stirring Oryx from his stupor. It took the dracolyte a few seconds to adjust to consciousness, but he smiled up at the dawn through the pale blue glass of his window when he did. The snow danced in swirls and waves, as if beckoning him to join in the flurry outside. How he loved the snow, the cold, and the winter. For him, it was exhilarating to just run through the icy fields of the Permafrost, but his clan generally wore looks of annoyance or amusement at the sight of aspiring warrior dashing through the snow like a hatchling, tail swishing wildly behind him.

After dressing in his usual furs and neatening his deep blue locks, he stepped from his abode into the liveliness of the morning town. Folks rushed past, determined to get the best from the grocer this morning, others stood chatting by the icy fountain, and a few just wandering through the light snow. This was home to Oryx: The great towers of white and blue shining in the dawn, the homey wooden cabins and icy hovels, the crisp air. And of course, the townsfolk. This was where he grew up, and although his training was sure to take him away, he knew he would always return to the quaint settlement of Winter Breeze. Yes, the name was cheesy, but he didn't care. It was home none-the-less. It's where his heart was.

Before he had a chance to decide where he was off to, he was pulled from his thoughts by an excited yelping sound.

"Ory!" cried the young dracolyte, attaching herself to his leg in a tight embrace. "I missed you so much, Ory!"

Smiling warmly down at her pale-blonde ponytail, he picked her up under the arms and wrapped her into a dramatic hug, swinging her in circles as she squealed delightedly. "Heya Em," He cooed, placing her back on her feet, "How was the trip? Did you see anything cool?"

Emily squeaked and started babbling excitedly, "It was so pretty! And there were so many people in the city, and we saw Guardians. Mom took me to see the ball games in the big arena! And we met this scary many with these big swords, but he made me an ice-cream! Out of nothing!" She finally paused to take in a deep breath before continuing. "Mom says he's from Candoria! Where everything is chocolate and ice-cream and gummy sweets! Can you take me there, someday?" She begged, her wide smile quickly turning into a pout.

Scoffing, Oryx brushed the large bangs out of his face and gave Emily an answer she would at least accept, "When you're a little older, and your mom won't chew my head off for dragging you across the realm. And I'll take you to see the great chocolate waterfalls in Gumdrop Valley. It's supposed to be the most beautiful place in this world." Thoughts of his own childhood raced to his mind, and how he dreamed of one-day seeing the paradise for himself.

"Really? You promise?"

"I promise."

"Yes!" She seemed excited, even though the opportunity was probably years away. She had it too, it seemed- the wanderlust that afflicted Oryx growing up. "Oh! I got you something," she said in a loud whisper, as if it was a huge secret - even if she wasn't all that subtle. She reached into her light pink coat and pulled out something that glinted, but concealed it as much as possible, before placing it in his palm. The heavy, cool feel told him that it was metal, and he was sure there was a small chain with it. Sure enough, when Oryx opened his hand, there lay a pendant with a deep blue gem embedded in the center and a small, twisted dragon carved into it.

"Thank you, Em. This is really sweet of you," he murmured, only taking his eyes off the gift when he had to place his head through it. He really did like it.

She stared up at him in awe, admiring how it matched his eyes. "Now, when you leave, you will always remember me." She said with a sad smile.

His heart almost shattered at the girl's words and the sorrow in her eyes. Kneeling so he was level with Emily, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and smirked at her. "Hey, I will never forget you. I love you so much, Em. And I will come back, I promise. Then I can take you and your mom on adventures with me, and take you to see any cities you want."

Emily's lightly freckled face slowly lit up and she seemed to regain her energy. "Thanks, Oryx. I have to go, I think mom is done with breakfast," The young dracolyte explained. She then dashed away towards a woman who smiled warmly at Oryx, and ushered her daughter into their home.

Smiling to himself, the dracolyte walked off to the training yard that the local guards would often use. He had to keep training if he hoped to join the ranks of the Elysium. The Elysium were warriors - a band of oath-sworn protectors and defenders of the realm and its people. Because of them, the lands flourished without threat of wars or invasions from the dark realm. They were a branch off of the Temple Of The Sun Goddess, and the two worked in tandem to keep the evils of the other realms at bay. He always admired them as a child, and aspired to join them since. He had to learn his scriptures to the Sun Goddess, and his lore, as it was part of one's entrance into both the Elysium and The Temple.

When he finally reached the training yard, his mind was heavy with thoughts of the trials and doubts about his abilities. But these thoughts were interrupted when a blast of solid frost connected with his face, sending a chill down his spine and causing him to sneeze. "Nurghh! Gideon!" Oryx growled through shut eyes as he scrubbed vigorously at his nose, attempting to dissipate the tingling feeling in his nasal cavity.

The ice sage in question smirked at him from the large rock he was leaning against, his arms crossed. "You're finally here, then. So I have some news that you're going to love." Gideon grinned, stepping away from the boulder towards Oryx. "It's about Elysium," the raven-haired mage sing-songed, pretending to be thoroughly interested in the bird that had perched itself in a nearby tree.

That was more than enough to catch Oryx's attention. His head darted up and he stared wide-eyed at his best friend in anticipation.

The slender sage waited for a few moments before continuing, "So, it looks like Trisha and Emily are back." Gideon said, stalling with the first thing that came to mind. He loved to toy with the dracolyte and he loved the way he could easily get the dracolyte annoyed or anxious.

"Gideon, come now, what's the news?!" He seemed as though he was going to explode from excitement and impatience. It was not often that news came about the Elysium, and when it did, it was generally worth the word.

"Fine," Gideon chuckled, "they're recruiting soon. Soon, as in a week's time at Tylereun Plaza."

"A week? This is amazing! We have to go, Gideon. We have to attempt the trials and join them!" The dracolyte rushed through his words, as though dawdling would cause them to miss the opportunity.

"First we have to be certain we are strong enough. Come, let's start off with a sparring match."

* * *

The first hour of training had gone rather quickly. As it turns out, Gideon had mastered his frost shield which now manifested as a barely visible but extremely powerful sphere around him, as compared to the original shimmer of icy plates floating around him. His battle form was impressive too: his legs seemed to vanish, replaced by a flow of frosty mist. He seemed to float and move with the air, gracefully and freely as the snow itself, but his power was as deadly as a gale-force blizzard. He truly resembled the great ice wizards of the permafrost. Oryx, though, had yet to master his explosive dragon totems or get his dragon familiar.

Twisting his hand to the sky he coalesced a mass of cerulean flames into an almost corporeal ball in his palm, which he threw to the ground. The air crystallized around it, forming a pale brown orb with the distinct shape of a dragon's head on top. He blasted fire at it from his outstretched palm and it exploded into a cloud of azure flames. _At least the totems were getting more powerful_ , he thought. He was sure that he could even destroy a small house with a few of them.

"It's strong," Gideon said, thoughtfully, "but it's a bit slow to make, isn't it? In battle, you should be able to make one in a split second."

" It's strange... I've heard some dracolytes can make them in less than a second. But it only absorbs energy so fast..." He muttered, highly irritated that he couldn't even make a timely bomb. He attempted another, in aggravation, and threw it to the ground where it formed its crystal shell. "It's just so aggravating!"

"Everything is _so aggravating_ to you." Gideon scoffed. Suddenly, the sage looked up at him with an expression showing Oryx that he just had an epiphany. "They absorb the energy of your flames?" He grinned devilishly.

"Yes... Why?" The dracolyte wasn't sure he liked that look. The sage wore it whenever he had an idea he thought genius, wicked and amusing, or was just mischievous.

"Relax, I think I just solved your dilemma." He said, looking at the concerned on his friend's face. "Don't charge the totem up, just throw it. It won't explode as quickly when you attack it, but it will allow you to attack your enemy during that time as well. That should allow you to be more efficient, and won't leave you unguarded for that period of time!" Gideon seemed thoroughly excited, as though this were a game.

Oryx seemed doubtful, but there was no harm in trying. _Gideon is an ice sage, he wouldn't understand how dracolyte magic works_ , Oryx thought. Despite his own thoughts, he shot a ball of flames to the ground and using the same technique to cover it in a crystal shell, he created a rather hollow dragon totem. It seemed so silly to him... It wouldn't really work, would it? It would just make a puff of blue smoke. But the look on enthralled Gideon's face made Oryx at least want to try, for the sage's sake. Aiming his palm in the direction of the shell, he blasted out a constant cone of flames in the area around the bomb. But it did not explode or even puff as he expected it too. Oryx's eyes widened as the totem glowed and swelled as he continued his onslaught of cyan flames, before exploding brilliantly. Blue flames mixed with the white shining snow, and glittered as the flames died down. He couldn't believe it...

"Gideon, you mad genius!" He bellowed and ran to the sage, gripping him in a bear hug. He didn't care if his scaled and pointed ears dug into the sage slightly. He had finally perfected his totems. The rest of the day's practice seemed a lot less strained for them, and a lot more cheerful.

* * *

 **AN: Hey guys. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think. Any crits you want to give, any questions, just review or pm me. I hope you enjoyed Chapter 1, and I hope I update soon. To all Trove fans, you guys are awesome. 3**


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